Top 40 Scariest Doctor Who Monsters & Villains (40-31)
Guest contributor Tomas Edwards begins his countdown.
Doctor Who has produced many monsters and villains over the years, some scary, and some not. Those that are scary (of which there are a lot) can be so in many ways, such as making you jump or providing chilling metaphors to the world in which we live. So which are the scariest? This Halloween I’ll be counting down through all sorts of nightmares this show has created, until I reach the one I personally find the scariest
Note: I have not seen all the classics, so if a classic monster you consider worthy of being on this list is not present, don’t worry as I have probably not seen the episode. These are my opinions, feel free to disagree but please do so in a polite and reasonably manner. Thank you.
40) Klineman Halpen
Scariest moment: “Well I’d suggest a post-mortem. Which means it’s got to be dead first”
39) The Dream Lord
The personification of all that is dark within the Doctor’s soul, and there is an awful lot of that. This master of sadism and limerick trapped the Doctor and his friends (Although they aren’t if you believe the Dream Lord) in a dream state, although really it was more of a nightmare. Toby Jones is wonderful as this evil and twisted entity, and writer Simon Nye provides him with some great dialogue which provides a chilling insight to the Doctor’s mind. If only it hadn’t turned out to be caused by psychic pollen.
Scariest moment: “Tweet tweet, time to sleep. Or are you waking up?”
38) Grand Marshall Skaldak
Some were unsatisfied with the true Ice Warrior form, but I was happy with it (Although this may have something to do with this being my first Ice Warrior story). I loved the slender creepy arms, especially when they wrapped around Stepashin. I also loved how brutal Skaldak was, ripping the crewmen to shreds, and I get a real chill whenever I hear the line “Red with the blood of humanity”. He would be higher if it wasn’t for his head.
Scariest moment: “It’s got out!”
37) The Great Intelligence
This entity is quite a significant nemesis of the Doctor’s, having had two appearances in the classic series and three in Series 7, as well as several appearances in other mediums; but I don’t count those as canon. What makes this foe scary is a combination of two things: Grant’s acting and the Intelligence’s actions. Grant gives such a cold, hateful performance as both Dr Simeon and the Great Intelligence, but the reason I have included the Intelligence instead of the good doctor is the acts of cruelty it has committed. Twice it took young children and twisted them into its puppets, and not to mention the way it tried to destroy the Doctor; A very evil being.
Scariest moment: “Where are my mummy and daddy?”
36) Headmaster Finch
An unexpected and obscure one you may be thinking, but this villain has been a love of mine since his first scene. Anthony Head seems to be one of those people born to play an antagonist, and in this case he doesn’t fail to convey his character’s cunning and ruthless nature. Whether he is arrogantly talking of his species’ victories, trying to persuade the Doctor to help him, or murdering and eating school children, this head teacher from hell is, in my view, certainly worthy of a place on this list.
Scariest moment: “It’s nearly time for lunch.”
35) Solomon
Yet again, we find ourselves dealing with an enemy which commits its evil crimes in order to gain money, and this time we have one which goes one step further. Solomon committed genocide, and this probably wasn’t the first time. Considering he is an old man, and is likely to have been pillaging all of his life, then he must surely have killed more people than a lot of individuals in the known Whoniverse. And it isn’t just that, it’s the way he is so casual about murder, describing it carelessly to the Doctor, possibly the biggest mistake of his life. And I used to find Space Pirates cute.
Scariest moment: “I will break you in with immense pleasure.”
34) Madame Kovarian
You may have noticed by now that the majority of enemies on this list are humanoid, so I’ll assure you now that a lot more monsters come along later. But now for my reasoning behind Kovarian’s place on this list. Once more, I find myself fearing this enemy more for what she has done than anything else, with her being the one who stole Amy’s baby (admittedly on the orders of the Silence) and in the process, either purposefully or by accident, stopped Amy from being able to have kids. Add Francis Barber’s fantastic acting and you have a truly terrifying nemesis in the form of the “midwife from hell”.
Scariest moment: “Push.”
33) Anti-matter Monster
Now, I should clarify that I am talking about the enemy in The Planet of Evil and not the, for want of a better word, interesting monsters which featured in The Three Doctors. This episode is very chilling I feel and features many behind the cushion moments (I can’t fit behind my sofa sadly). I must admit, though, that the monster does look a little cartoony, but the terrifying “Anti-man” and stunningly creepy sets make up for that.
Scariest moment: The first deaths.
32) Clockwork Droids
Moffat certainly knows how to scare, doesn’t he? Whilst not the most terrifying of all Moffat’s creations, the Clockwork Droids are still chilling, and as is often the case with Moffat, play on a very basic fear: the monster under the bed. As well as this, there are those chilling moments when the protagonists notice the only clock in the room is broken, leading them to realise they aren’t alone. Their scariness is increased even more by their unsettling and emotionless masks, an effect which is slightly spoilt by the (annoyingly early on) removal of these disguises. But nonetheless they are a very frightening enemy.
Scariest moment: The monster under the bed.
31) Reapers
These eerie and bat-like monsters are, arguably, among the most powerful in the Whoniverse, due to the fact they cannot be harmed by anything in our universe. This undefeatable nature adds a great air of fear to Father’s Day, aided by the omnipresent screeching and scraping at the walls. These enemies could have had an even greater impact if some of the earlier designs had been used, but they are still very scary, not to mention the fact they (temporarily) killed the Doctor.
Scariest moment: The Doctor “dies”.
Come back tomorrow for part 2…
